A breath of fresh air amongst the big thick bodies DSLR's seem inevitably have to be these days

The small diminutive size (only millimeters thicker and higher then my F2AS) and quiet shutter makes it a nice unobtrusive package ideal for lowprofile photography (not everybody wants to look like and be as present as a 'pro') while the excellent sensor guarantees impeccable IQ and high ISO.

Due to its modest size also ideal for shooting with older manual lenses as those are smaller then their modern AF counterparts and on bigger DSLR's like D800, D3 etc tend be feel a bit too tiny and overwhelmed. Also Nikon seems to have tweaked the focussing screen to better focus manually with then with eg the D800 and D3.

UI is realistically speaking perfect enough, the dials for shutterspeed and ISO allows easy acess and operation especially if you're used to the older film bodies, and changing the aperture with the aperture ring on the lens brings back old memories (and BTW a better balanced handling of te camera)

The body still has enough buttons, dials, custom settings and menus to satisfy even the biggest techie, but basically you, just like in the film days but with a lot more peace of mind, only need to have your exposure correct ( and even that is considering the DR of the sensor not a major problem if somewhat or more off the mark) as with digital you if you shoot RAW can afterwards easily correct any mistakes with exposure, WB, contrast etc.

No need to waste time and concentration on getting the perfect technical settings while you're actually taking the picture (and maybe miss the shot because of that) but just choose your settings before you shoot and start taking pictures (maybe make an initialcheck of the pictures for major mistakes while shooting with Image Review, or chimping afterwards, one of the many advantages of shooting digital)

Price is a bit steep and prevents the camera being an everybodies friend ( and sometimes the subject of 'haters' because of it) but if you look at it for what it is (and not compare it to death with other cameras it is supposedly is to be as good as, are cheaper, smaller, etc) it has undeniably much more qualities then disadvantages.

And otherwise just don't buy it. But for some ( and judging by the sales numbers that quite a few) it's a pretty nice little camera

May 24, 2014

recordproductiOfflineImage Upload: Off

Registered: Jul 11, 2005Location: United KingdomPosts: 332

Review Date: May 24, 2014

Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10

Pros:

Battery life is superb, image quality is excellent, low light performance very good, fast to use, more compact and lighter than standard DSLR's, fun to shoot with. A good balance between large full frame cameras and compact system bodies that lets you use all the lenses you own already - assuming you already have a Nikon.

Cons:

Not able to shoot video.

In my view the DF is well worth the money. It makes shooting fun, it's the kind of camera that begs to be taken out. It's not ultra compact but it is substantially lighter and less bulky than say D800's.

The resolution is very good, images sharpen very well in LR or Capture One. It's got a great sensor. Dynamic range isn't as amazing as the D800's but is very good. As a rule I tend to start at ISO 200 as DR seems best there and taking it up to ISO 800 is virtually noise free. Mid to high ISO's produce surprisingly noise free images. RAW files are easy to work with and are much smaller than D800's! I find that with the DF I can shoot at a speed of roughly 1 x FL, with the D800 I'm at least double that. Of course it has half the pixels but in most cases 16 mega pixels is plenty but on shoots that require loose framing so that editors can crop or have flexibility for page layout it's possibly on the edge of being the body to take. If I'm shooting important work on a tripod with the D800e I will take the DF as my backup.

Many have complained about the locking controls. There's no issue there in my experience, the direct and easy to use controls make shooting simple. Most of the time I'm in manual and don't bother with any auto modes finding it really fast to drive and set up. Metering is good. AF is good, not stunning but works well. Focus points are a little bunched close to the centre but since my Canon 5D days I've been used to mostly using the centre points. Tracking in continuous AF is very good. I do find the viewfinder to be really good and can easily focus manually with it. Battery life being so good only one spare is needed in the bag if you're doing a long day's shooting.

It's not a perfect camera but no such thing exists. I love my D800e and do much of my work with that but the DF is my 'fun' camera, the one that I choose to take on days out, carry everywhere etc. It deserves very high marks and am amazed that nobody has reviewed it here already. If you get the chance do try the DF, it's a great camera :-)